Seed-cleaning machine



April 26, 1927. l

M. L. KOLLMAN ET AL.

SEED CLEANING MACHINE Filed July 18. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 il ze 192 i1625 858 Apr 7 M. l.. KOLLMAN ET AL SEED CLEANING MACHINE yFiled July18. 1924 2, SheetsShee'c 2 Patented Apr. 26, i927.

MNHTED STATES .PATENT OFFICE.

MELVN L. KGLLMAN, F SIOUX. CITY, lOl/Vit, ANZI) Iii-MIEL L. KLAPPAL, OFWITTON, SOUTH DAKDTA.

Application led July 18,

The object of our invention is to provide a seed separatiiig machineespeciall7 adapted for separating fox-tail and pigeon `grass seed fromthe ordinari7 alfalfa clover, and other seed of substant-ialh7 the samesize. the machine being;` comparatively simple, easy to operate and oneWhich can be manufactured and. marketed at a comparatively low cost.

In this connection, it may be mentioned l0 that in certain portions ofthe country.Y Where alfalfa and clover are grown, certain wild grassknown as fox-tail and pigeon grass, zerovv with the alfalfa, clover andthe like, and when the seed is taken from the clover and alfalfa, thewild fox-tail and pigeon seed is mined with the `rood seed, such as thealfalfa and clover seed.

The fox-tail and pigeon grass seed is the saine size and Weight as theclover and 2U alfalfa seed, and for that reason, it is impossible to useany blowing element to separate one kind of seed from the other.

The fox-tail and pigeon grass seed, however, has a peculiarcharacteristic in that it is comintrativeli7 rough While the seed ofclover and alfalfa is smooth and, in order to separate the undesirablesee-d, it is necesser;r to employ a means for engaging and separating`the undesired seed from the goed, clean seed and it is our object toprovide a. machine wherein the fox-tail and pigeon grass seed can bequickly and completely sepa-rated from alfalfa and clover seed after thesaine has come through a cleaningV mill of the. Ordinar)T kind.

Another Object is to provide a seed separating' machine in which therollers are tapered so as to be smaller at their discharge ends than atthe receiving7 ends.

Still a further object is to provide a cloth covered roller, Which willpass through the seed and piek up the fox-tail and pigeon grass due toits rough surface. and carry the sanne to a place Where a brush Willoperate for separating' the undesired seed from the cloth coveredroller. The goed seed being smooth, will not stick to the roller, andWill pass out of the machine separated from the pigeon grass andfox-tail seed.

lNitli these and other objects in View, our

1924. serial No. reame.

invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination ofthe various parts of our device. whereby the objects contemplated areattained, as hereinafter more fully set forth. pointed out in ourclaims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. in which:

Figure 1 is an end view of our seed sepa.- ratingr machine, showingv thedrive belts for operating the various rollers and brushes.

Figure 2 is a top, plan View of the machine, the seed hopper being`shown in dotted lines thereon.

Figure 3 is a detail, sectional view taken on line 3-3 of F injure 2.

Figure 4 is a vertical, sectional. view taken on line 4i-t of Figure 3,showing the cloth covered rollers.

In the accompanying;- drawings, we have used the reference numeral 10 toindicate generally vertical posts in the form of angle irons, which areconnected together on their sides by cross pieces 11 and on their endsby cross pieces 19., 13. 14C and 15. The parts just described form therigid frame of our machine.

Mounted on one side of the machine and xed to two of the uprights arethe brackets 16, Which form bearings 17 for the drive shaft 18.

The drive shaft 18 has fixed to it an enlarged pulley 20. which may beconnected to line shaft for driving the shaft 18, Which in turn drivesthe mechanism, which We shall hereinafter describe.

rllhe machine which ive have shown is built up of three units, each unitoperating' exactly alike.

Mounted upon the cross pieces 13 are the )caring members 21 which havejournalled therein the shafts 29..

The bearing members 21 are secured to the cross pieces 13 bv :means ofthe bolts 23.

The shafts 22 extend from one end of the machine to the other end of themachine and are inclined relative to horizont-al, as clearly shown inFigure 4t of the drawings.

llflounted upon each of the shafts 22 is a roller Q4 which is of greaterdiameter at its upper end than at its lower end so that the itl entireroller is tapered from its top to its bottom end.

We find that the tapered roller is effective to assist the progress ofseeds .tiowing through the machine by increasing the speed of the flowof such seeds. I attribute this quality of the tapered roller to auaction similar to that of an auger.

There are three sets of upper rollers Q4, as clearly shown in Figure 2of the drawings, and in order to operate the shafts QQ Ator rotating therollers 2li, we mounta pulley wheel Q5 upon the drive sliaft i8, whichis operatively connected to one of the shafts 22 by means et a belt Q6extending around the pulley wheel 2".

The pulley wheel 27 is connected to one of the shafts 22, as Clearlyshown in Figure 2 of the drawings.

The shaft 22 extends beyond the bearing l1 in which it is mounted, forpermitting the pulley wheel 27 to be secured thereto.

On the opposite end ot the machine, each of the shafts 22 are projectedbeyond the bea-ring members 2l and have mounted thereon pulley wheels28. The pulley wheels Q8 are in line with each other and belts Q9 extendtherearound for operating the other two sets of rollers.

Belt tighteners 30 are positioned betuf'een the pulley wheels 28 andrest against the belt Q9 for tightening the same so as to insure properdriving of the various rollers 2st.

From the construction of the parts just described, it will be seen thatone of the shafts 9.2 is operated from the drive shaft 1S, andtheremainder of the shafts 2Q are operated from the shaft 9.2, which isconnected to the shaft 18 by means of the belt Q6.

Each ot the rollers Q4: are covered with the cloth sheet 31, the purposeot which will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

The upper cross pieces 11 are inclined from one end of the machine tothe other, substantially like the rollers Qet.

Secured to the upper cross pieces l1 are the troughs 32, which receivethe rollers 2st therein, one ot' the troughs 32 and one of the rollers24 being clearly shown in Figure 3 of the drawings.

`The roller Q4 travels in the direction indicated by the arrows 33.

Mounted in bearing members 34. placed upon the cross pieces l2 on eachof the ends of the machine, are the shafts Mounted upon each of theshafts 35 and engaging the cloth covered rollers 34; are the rollerbrushes 36. The roller brushes 36 are rotated in the direction indicatedby the arrow 37.

In order to drive the shafts 35 for retaining the roller brushes 36, wemount a pulley wheel 38 on the shaft 22, which has the pulley wheel 27thereon.

The middle shaft 35 of the three is conlescriljied. Vit will be seenthat the middle shaft lo will he rotated from one ot' the shafts and itin turn, duc to the belts il and l2, will rotate the other two shafts35.

Two of the uprights or posts l() project above the remainder of themachine so as to form a support for the said hopper 43.

The said hopper 43 has three discharge spouts 411-, each of whichdischarge into the troughs 32.

One cloth covered roller and one of the roller brushes 3G, together withone of the troughs 32 form one unit of the machine.

Spaced directly below each of the rollers @el are the rollers 45, whichare journalled in bearings i6 mounted on the cross pieces li and securedthereto by means of the bolts fl?.

The rollers l5 are inclined from one end of the machine to the other ina` direction opposite from the inclination of the rollers 2l.

The rollers ll5 are tapered so that the upper ends are of greaterdiameter than their lower ends. The large ends of the rollers -il arespaced near the small end ot' the rollers 24.

The rollers Al5 are covered with a sheet of cloth e8, which similar tothe cloth sheet 3l on the rollers Q4 but of liner texture.

A trough t9 is provided for each of the rollers which troughs` aresecured to the upper troughs 32 by means ol. an extension or wall 50, asclearly,v shown in Figure 3 ot' the drawings.

The upper end of the wall 5() is riveted to the side of the upper trough3Q.

The wall of the trough 4.() is provided with a wall 5l forn'led at rightangles lo the wall 50, and which is parallel with the ends. of themachine.

The wall 5l has a short inturned tlauge positioned between the uppertrough 32 and the lower cloth covered rollers #45.

The. lower rollers 45 are mounted on shafts 53, which are journallcd inthe bearingsv "lt.

One of the shafts has mounted on it a pulley7 wheel ill-, which has abelt i5 thcreover which in turn extends orar a pulley .iti on the driveshaft 18.

rlhe remaining shafts are connected together ou the opposite side of themachine and driven in the identical manner as shown for driving theupper roller shafts QQ.

hiounted upon the cross braces lil. are hcarings 57 which are journalledto shafts 53.

ltltl llU Leaders The shaftsfS have mounted thereon roller brushes 59.

rlhe slnrtts 58 are driven in exactly the same iiiaiui'ier as the rollershafts 35 are driven.` and we have used 'the saine reference numerals toindicate the drive belts and pulleys.

From the construction ot' the parts heretotore described, it will beseen that the upper rollers as well as the lower rollers, together' withthe brushes i'or each ot the rollers, are all operated t'roin thecoinn'ion drive shaft 18.

The upper roller brushes 36 have guards ti() secured to the upper crosspieces ll. Guards 6l 'tor the lower roller brushes 59 are secured to thetroughs nea-r one of their edges, and also to cross bars G2 extendedfrom one end of the machine to the other and secured to the uprights l0.

Below the lower ends ot the lower rollers t5, we mount a receivingtrough 523, into which the clean seed passes into aiter leaving themachine. rlhe receiving trough is fixed to the lower cross piece l5 bymeans of the bolts 64:.

Practical operation.

le shall now describe in detail the operation oi our machine.

The seed, as it comes in from the mills7 is mixed with pigeon grass andtex-tail seed, and it is desirable to remove the same from either thealfalfa or clover seed, as the case may be, and when the seed comes fromthe mill it is passed into the hopper 43.

The seed passes through the spouts 4dand drops on to the troughs 32. Theupper rollers 24e travel at about 30 revolutions per minute, and thereis just enough clearance between the lower brush of the rollers 2st andthe troughs 32 to permit the seed to pass therebetween.

The troughs, being inclined from one end ot the machine to the otherend, will permit the seed to slide clown to the lower lend ot thetrough. In the meantime, the cloth sheet 3l on the roller 241? willengage any ot the undesired seed, which is usually toxtail and pigeongrass seed, due to their rough, outer surfaces, will be carried upon thecloth sheet in the direction indicated by the arrow 33.

rlhe Aroller brush 3G is operated at a considerably 'faster speed thanthe roller 2l, which will brush the seed sticking to the cloth sheet 3ltherefrom so that it will iall clear ot the machine in the directionindiated by the arrow 65.

rilhe clover seed or alfalfa seed being smooth, will work its way downto the lower end of the upper trough 32 and will then drop therefrom onto the roller 4 5 and lower trough 49.

. The tact that the upper roller is rotated in the direction indicatedby the arrows will cause the good seed to drop therefrom and tallsubstantially in a line indicated by the reference numeral (56. Any otthe undesired seed. which has worl'red its way by the upper roller 94:and the trough 32, will then be picked up by the cloth sheet on thelower roller Any undesired seed which sticks to the cloth sheet a8. willbe pushed therefrom by means et the roller brush 59.

The guard 6l will cause the undesired seed to `tali in the properdirection without any danger otl it becoming mixed with the other seed.

The lower rollers 4-5 travel at a rate of about 2O revolutions perminute and the lower roller brushes 59 travel at a much greater speed.The lower roller and roller brush 59 operate in the same direction as dothe upper roller 2st and roller brush Q6.. After the seed has worked itsway down to the lower end of the trough 4&9, it drops into the dischargetrough 63 where it may be carried to suitable containers.

lit will be seen that we have provided a machine wherein a cloth coveredroller, in passing through the mixed seed, will separat-e the undesiredseed and carry it away so that the remaining seed will be pure.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of thevarious parts ot' our inventiuin` without departing trom the real spiritand purpose ot our invention and it is our intention to cover by ourclaims, any modified forms ot structure or use ot' mechanicalequivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

ille claim as our invention:

l. A seed separating machine comprising a. trame, an inclined troughmounted thereon. a cloth covered roller journalled on said :traine andarranged in said trough said roller being tapered so as to be smaller atits discharge end than at its receiving end and a roller brush inContact with said cloth covered roller so that seed carried upon saidcloth covered roller may be brushed theretrom by said roller brush.

2. A seed separating machine comprising a iframe, an inclined troughmounted thereon, a roller journalled on said trame and partiallyextended into said trough, said roller being tapered Aso as to besmaller at its discharge end than at its receiving end, a hopper iordelivering mixed seed into said trough, said roller having a sheet ot'filament like members tor engaging and carrying away the seed thereonthat have roughencd surfaces for separating them from the smooth seed,and means for removing the rough surfaced seeds from said sheet.

in a seed cleaning machine, a trame, an upper and lower cloth coveredroller, troughs enclosing the lower portions of the rollers,

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eter than the upperroller, and means `for rotating the lower roller moreslowly than the upper roller, the upper roller being adapted todischarge seed lo the lower roller.

Des Moines, Iowa, June 24, 1924;.

EMIEL L. KLAPPAL. MELVIN L. KOLLMAN.

